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Barcelona, Spain Executives at HMD Global, the startup that licenses the Nokia brand for its phones, were worried that no one would show up to their event ahead of Mobile World Congress today. The crew of earnest Finns—many of them career Nokia executives and lifelong fans—were being modest. The media turned up in droves, thanks […]

Illegal fishing damages economies and endangers ocean ecosystems. Despite decades of effort, as much as 20% of all fish caught is hauled from the water illegally. That’s in part because it’s almost impossible to prevent illegally caught fish from getting mixed in with legal catch. Even when port security is operating perfectly, it’s always possible […]Read More

As a byproduct of the media’s focus on #Oscarsowhite, we’ve gained some insight into how Oscar winners are selected, who votes, and the well-funded campaigning for votes that happens behind the scenes. It isn’t only a lack of racial diversity that’s led to some odd, unpopular choices over the years. The members of the Academy […]Read More

According to critics, the 2017 Academy Award best picture nominees Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, and La La Land are historically great movies. In fact, these three films were so well received, they might be the best crop of films to have graced the Academy Awards’ Best Picture category in decades. In order to assess […]

The best reason for a writerly person to buy a house is probably “because you particularly wish it.” There may be other worth­while reasons, but none come readily to mind. I will not attempt to talk you into buying a house if you are having a perfectly good time renting; no one should yoke a […]

Scientists have discovered nearly 3,500 planets that circle a star other than our sun. And, yet, something about the announcement of seven new exoplanets this week seemed to have struck a chord with millions of people in ways the previous thousands did not. Even my colleague’s six-year-old daughter Elizabeth caught the buzz, “going nuts over […]

The Department of Homeland Security has concluded that citizenship is an “unlikely indicator” of whether an individual poses a terror threat to the US, according to a draft report obtained by the Associated Press. US president Donald Trump had ordered an intelligence report to justify his embattled travel ban on seven Muslim majority nations. But […]

Warren Buffett released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (pdf) today. The 29-page document was full of investment advice and details on the conglomerate’s performance. The billionaire investor—behind Geico, Kraft Heinz, and a slew of other brands—saluted the US’s “miraculous” achievements, including its “economic dynamism” and “tide of talented and ambitious immigrants,” in the […]Read More

On Jan. 24, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs breathed a sigh of relief as the 2017 Oscar nominees were announced via streaming video. For the first time in Oscar history, black nominees were represented in all four acting categories. And more than half the Best Picture nominees featured diverse […]

New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel is shutting its doors at the end of February for an overhaul that will change the face of the more than 85-year-old art deco landmark. It opened in its current Park Avenue location in October 1931, as the world’s tallest hotel. The Waldorf Astoria’s guestrooms and ballrooms have has hosted […]Read More

Barcelona, Spain As smartphones have proliferated, so have the kinds of people obsessed with them, from car-makers to media chieftains. Every year, they gather at Mobile World Congress, an annual extravaganza that brings together telecom companies, internet giants, handset makers and everyone in between to talk mobile computing for four days in Barcelona. The 2016 […]

US Democrats took the first major step toward rebuilding the Democratic party today. Former president Barack Obama’s onetime labor secretary Tom Perez was elected party chair at a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on Feb. 25. His election follows a tumultous DNC leadership change that upended the party last summer and an election cycle that concluded […]